"Nor I you. What are you doing away up here on the hill?" Janice asked.
Frank Bowman did not look himself. The girl could not make out what the trouble with him was, and she was puzzled.
"I guess you forgot I told you I was moving," he said hesitatingly.
"Oh, I remember! And you've moved up into this neighborhood?"
"Not exactly. I am going to lodge with the Threads, but I shall continue to eat Marm Parraday's cooking."
"The Threads?" murmured Janice.
"You know. The little, crooked-backed man. He's janitor of the school. His wife has two rooms I can have. Her brother has been staying with them; but he's lost his job and has gone up into the woods. It's a quiet place—and that's what I want. I can't stand the racket at the hotel any longer," concluded the civil engineer.
But Janice thought he still looked strange and spoke differently from usual. His glance wandered about the store as he talked.
"What did you want to buy, Frank?" she asked. "I'm keeping store to-night." She knew that 'Rill would not want the young man to see her tears.
"Oh—ah—yes," Bowman stammered. "What did I want?"